Another year has passed… Festive decoration, joyful songs, aroma of ginger cookies and hot chocolate… and time for year-end review.

Traditionally, at the end of each year, we look back to note what has been done, to celebrate the success, but also to set the new year goals.

For all of us, 2021 was a dynamic year, filled with accomplishments and challenges, with new opportunities and surprises. And counting down the hours to the coming New Year, let us remember to greet each other for the good work and recall some of the most valuable achievements.

As one of the best business schools in Eastern Europe we were continuously developing and meeting the standards of the global higher education. In 2021 VUM has been recognized as 1 of the 3 best universities in Bulgaria by the world ranking of The Times Higher Education. VUM was the only university from Varna and rated 4th place in Bulgaria in the QS EECA University Rankings.  According to the official EU ranking system U-Multirank, VUM was ranked 3rd among Bulgarian Universities having only the Medical Universities in Sofia and Plovdiv ahead. For a consecutive year we were also placed among the leading universities in the world for student mobility compared to more than 1800 other universities. According to Eduniversal Best Masters, the MSc International Hospitality and Tourism Management programme of VUM was ranked 14th worldwide in the Tourism Management field, and the MBA Programme of VUM went up to 4th place in Eastern Europe for full-time MBA programmes.

This was also the year in which VUM was placed on the top by the Ranking system of the higher education institutions in Bulgaria in terms of research in the Tourism and Economics fields and our Vice Rector (Research) Prof. Stanislav Ivanov made us proud with his positioning among the TOP 2% of scientists in the world by the Stanford University ranking.

In 2021 our strategic academic partner Cardiff Metropolitan University was awarded the highly prestigious title of University of the Year by the Times Higher Education, thus making us extremely pleased by our successful collaboration. Already for 12 years this partnership allows Bulgarian and international students to receive innovative education following the British standards here in Bulgaria and gives VUM the exclusive privilege of educating students in programmes leading to not only a Bulgarian but a British higher education degree as well, without the need for students to travel to the UK.

At the end of September, we started the new academic year welcoming full-time and mobility students from 8 new countries, thus the international VUM family reached nearly 60 nationalities.

And while some were just starting their student’s life, others have successfully completed one of the most important stages in their lifetimes. With a formal ceremony, VUM graduated Class 2021 – the 23rd class of graduates of Varna University of Management and 11th class of graduates with a second degree by Cardiff Metropolitan University. Among the 2021 class graduates there are citizens of Albania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Vietnam, Guatemala, Germany, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Israel, India, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Uganda and Ukraine.

In fact, this year we graduated students not only in Bulgaria, but also in Brazil. As a result of the successful cooperation between Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUCPR) and Varna University of Management, Raul Marcondes and Josef Back were the first students who were actually awarded three degrees after spending a year of their education at VUM – a Bachelor’s Degree in Administration from PUCPR, a Bachelor’s Degree in International Business and Management from Varna University of Management (VUM) in Bulgaria and a third one from Cardiff Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom.

The year was also marked by the achievements of the Chef Instructors and students of Culinary Arts Institute at Varna University of Management. Thanks to the dedication and efforts of the CAI Chef Instructors, new and modern educational modules were created and introduced in the learning process – Waste control management, Molecular cuisine, Social Media Marketing for Chefs, Food Photography, Bartending and more. Their idea and philosophy of teaching is to prepare the students for the real work environment, not only as chefs, head-chefs, culinary managers, but also to give them an advantage on the labor market and allow them to grow and prosper as confident future innovators and leaders on the culinary scene.

The professionalism of the Chef Instructors and the high quality of education provided for students impressed even the world famous Chefs Gianfranco and Anna Chiarini – owners of the first and only restaurant in Bulgaria, contender for the prestigious Michelin star. The Dieci Boutique Chefs will be our exclusive guests in January and together with the CAI team will present a unique 10-course menu, touching the palate and senses like never before…

So, day after day, step by step, victory after victory, 2021 has passed. The balance points to progress, commitment and a willingness to take on new horizons in the coming 2022.

As the Chinese philosopher and politician Confucius said, “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” We, the team of Varna University of Management, assure you that we will not stop developing, we will work even more actively and professionally to achieve more and more success together.

We wish you a warm and bright holiday and a successful New 2022 Year!

By Admin